The Best Antivirus Protection for 2019

Antivirus software is critical for every PC. Without it, you risk losing your personal information, your files, and even the cash from your bank account. We've tested more than 40 utilities to help you pick the best antivirus protection for your computers.

Bottom Line: A single subscription for McAfee AntiVirus Plus lets you protect every Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS device in your household. It's quite a deal, and the current edition adds some new and...

Bottom Line: With the powerful ZoneAlarm firewall, antivirus licensed from Kaspersky, and a unique new approach to phishing protection, Check Point ZoneAlarm PRO Antivirus + Firewall 2017 is worth a look...

Bottom Line: Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic gets good scores from the independent labs and very good scores in most of our hands-on tests. However, it tanked our antiphishing test this time around, it's...

Bottom Line: When your PC has The Kure installed, you can wipe out malware just by rebooting. Your own documents aren't affected, and it even has the ability to reverse the effects of encrypting ransomwa...

Bottom Line: VoodooShield takes a whitelist approach to antivirus protection, but without getting in the user's way. A new machine-learning component brings it closer to the abilities of a standalone ant...

Neil J. RubenkingThe Best Antivirus Protection for 2019Antivirus software is critical for every PC. Without it, you risk losing your personal information, your files, and even the cash from your bank account. We've tested more than 40 utilities to help you pick the best antivirus protection for your computers.

Malware, Spyware, and Adware Protection

In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of…malware? Actually, malware is a year-round business. And—make no mistake—writing malicious code is big business. A bot attack can bend your computer to a bot herder's will, making it part of the latest nefarious scheme. Spyware may capture your credit card details, and put them up for sale on the dark web. Ransomware simply says, "Show me the money!" If you don't pay up, you don't get your encrypted files back. So, wake up, smell the flowers, and install antivirus protection. If you've already installed an antivirus, double-check that it's up to date. If not, we've tested more than 40 programs to help you choose the one that matches your needs.

We call it antivirus, but in truth it's unlikely you'll get hit with an actual computer virus. Malware these days is about making money, and there's no easy way to cash in on spreading a virus. Ransomware and data-stealing Trojans are much more common, as are bots that let the bot-herder rent out your computer for nefarious purposes. Modern antivirus utilities handle Trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware, ransomware, and more. PCMag has reviewed more than 40 different commercial antivirus utilities, and that's not even counting the many free antivirus tools. Out of that extensive field we've named fourEditors' Choice products.

Some nonstandard commercial antivirus utilities proved effective enough to earn an excellent four-star rating alongside their more traditional counterparts. VoodooSoft VoodooShield bases its protection on suppressing all unknown programs while the computer is in a vulnerable state, such as when it's connected to the internet, and also acts to detect known malware. The Kure resets the computer to a known safe state on every reboot, thereby eliminating any malware. If you have malware, one of the ten products in the chart above should take care of the problem.

These commercial products offer protection beyond the antivirus built into Windows 10; the best free antivirus utilities also offer more. However, Microsoft Windows Defender Security Center is looking a bit better lately, with some very good scores from independent testing labs. In our hands-on tests, it showed a marked improvement since our previous review, enough to finally bring it up to three stars.

Listen to the Labs

We take the results reported by independent antivirus testing labs very seriously. The simple fact that a particular vendor's product shows up in the results is a vote of confidence, of sorts. It means the lab considered the product significant, and the vendor felt the cost of testing was worthwhile. Of course, getting good scores in the tests is also important.

We follow four labs that regularly release detailed reports: SE Labs, AV-Test Institute, MRG-Effitas, and AV-Comparatives. We also note whether vendors have contracted with ICSA Labs and West Coast labs for certification. We've devised a system for aggregating their results to yield a rating from 0 to 10.

We Test Malware, Spyware, and Adware Defenses

We also subject every product to our own hands-on test of malware protection, in part to get a feeling for how the product works. Depending on how thoroughly the product prevents malware installation, it can earn up to 10 points for malware protection.

Our malware protection test necessarily uses the same set of samples for months. To check a product's handling of brand-new malware, we test each product using 100 extremely new malware-hosting URLs supplied by MRG-Effitas, noting what percentage of them it blocked. Products get equal credit for preventing all access to the malicious URL and for wiping out the malware during download.

Some products earn absolutely stellar ratings from the independent labs, yet don't fare as well in our hands-on tests. In such cases, we defer to the labs, as they bring significantly greater resources to their testing. Want to know more? You can dig in for a detailed description of how we test security software.

Multilayered Malware Protection

Antivirus products distinguish themselves by going beyond the basics of on-demand scanning and real-time malware protection. Some rate URLs that you visit or that show up in search results, using a red-yellow-green color-coding system. Some actively block processes on your system from connecting with known malware-hosting URLs or with fraudulent (phishing) pages.

Software has flaws, and sometimes those flaws affect your security. Prudent users keep Windows and all programs patched, fixing those flaws as soon as possible. The vulnerability scan offered by some antivirus products can verify that all necessary patches are present, and even apply any that are missing.

Spyware comes in many forms, from hidden programs that log your every keystroke to Trojans that masquerade as valid programs while mining your personal data. Any antivirus should handle spyware, along with all other types of malware, but some include specialized components devoted to spyware protection.

You expect an antivirus to identify and eliminate bad programs, and to leave good programs alone. What about unknowns, programs it can't identify as good or bad? Behavior-based detection can, in theory, protect you against malware that's so new researchers have never encountered it. However, this isn't always an unmixed blessing. It's not uncommon for behavioral detection systems to flag many innocuous behaviors performed by legitimate programs.

Whitelisting is another approach to the problem of unknown programs. A whitelist-based security system only allows known good programs to run. Unknowns are banned. This mode doesn't suit all situations, but it can be useful. Sandboxing lets unknown programs run, but it isolates them from full access to your system, so they can't do permanent harm. These various added layers serve to enhance your protection against malware.

Firewalls, Ransomware Protection, and More

Firewalls and spam filtering aren't common antivirus features, but some of our top products include them as bonus features. In fact, some of these antivirus products are more feature-packed than certain products sold as security suites.

Among the other bonus features you'll find are secure browsers for financial transactions, secure deletion of sensitive files, wiping traces of computer and browsing history, credit monitoring, virtual keyboard to foil keyloggers, cross-platform protection, and more. You'll even find products that enhance their automatic malware protection with the expertise of human security technicians. And of course we've already mentioned sandboxing, vulnerability scanning, and application whitelisting.

We're seeing more and more antivirus products adding modules specifically designed for ransomware protection. Some work by preventing unauthorized changes to protected files. Others keep watch for suspicious behaviors that suggest malware. Some even aim to reverse the damage. Given the growth of this scourge, any added protection is beneficial.

Beyond Antivirus: VPN

Your antivirus utility works in the background to keep out any faint possibility of infestation by malware, but its abilities don't extend beyond the bounds of your computer. When you connect to the wild and wooly internet, you risk the possibility that your data could be compromised in transit. Sticking to HTTPS websites when possible can help, but for full protection of your data in transit you should install a virtual private network, or VPN. This component is important enough that we're starting to see it as a bonus feature in some antivirus tools.

What's the Best Malware Protection?

Which antivirus should you choose? You have a wealth of options. Kaspersky Anti-Virus earned perfect scores in all the latest independent lab tests, and Bitdefender Antivirus Plus came very close. A single subscription for McAfee AntiVirus Plus lets you install protection on all of your Windows, Android, Mac OS, and iOS devices. And its unusual behavior-based detection technology means Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus is the tiniest antivirus around. We've named these four Editors' Choice for commercial antivirus, but they're not the only products worth consideration. Read the reviews of our top-rated products, and then make your own decision.

Note that we have reviewed many more antivirus utilities than we could include in the chart of top products. If your favorite software isn't listed there, chances are we did review it. The blurbs below include every product that managed 3.5 stars or better. All the utilities listed in this feature are Windows antivirus apps. If you're a macOS user, don't despair, however; PCMag has a separate roundup dedicated solely to the best Mac antivirus software.

Editors' Note: We are aware of the allegations of Kaspersky Labs' inappropriate ties to the Russian government. Until we see some actual proof of these allegations, we will treat them as unproven, and continue to recommend Kaspersky's security products as long as their performance continues to merit our endorsement.

Pros: Protection for every Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS device in your household. Good scores in hands-on tests. Perfect score in antiphishing test. Includes new ransomware protection and PC Boost, plus many bonus features.

Cons: Ransom Guard missed one hand-modified ransomware sample. PC Boost web speedup works only in Chrome. Mac edition less feature-rich than Windows or Android. Still fewer features for iOS.

Bottom Line: A single subscription for McAfee AntiVirus Plus lets you protect every Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS device in your household. It's quite a deal, and the current edition adds some new and useful features.

Cons: Sparse results from independent labs. Advanced features too advanced for average user. At max sensitivity, OSFirewall flagged both good and bad programs. Phishing protection only in Chrome.

Bottom Line: With the powerful ZoneAlarm firewall, antivirus licensed from Kaspersky, and a unique new approach to phishing protection, Check Point ZoneAlarm PRO Antivirus + Firewall 2017 is worth a look.

Bottom Line: Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic gets good scores from the independent labs and very good scores in most of our hands-on tests. However, it tanked our antiphishing test this time around, it's expensive, and it lacks full tech support.

Bottom Line: When your PC has The Kure installed, you can wipe out malware just by rebooting. Your own documents aren't affected, and it even has the ability to reverse the effects of encrypting ransomware.

Cons: Could possibly whitelist malware running prior to installation. Flagged some legitimate programs as suspicious, some as malicious.

Bottom Line: VoodooShield takes a whitelist approach to antivirus protection, but without getting in the user's way. A new machine-learning component brings it closer to the abilities of a standalone antivirus.

Bottom Line: The technology that Ashampoo Anti-Virus licenses from other companies does very well in most of our tests, but you're probably better off just going straight to those other vendors.

Pros: Easy installation, no configuration. Good scores in our tests.

Cons: Not included in regular independent lab tests. No protection against fraudulent or malicious URLs. Lacks additional protection layers found in many competitors.

Bottom Line: Commissioned lab tests and our own tests show that the machine-learning detection engine in Cylance Smart Antivirus really can identify malware, but it lacks the full range of protection features found in many competitors.

Bottom Line: Emsisoft Anti-Malware effectively handles the basic tasks of malware protection, including ransomware. Its few lab test results are good, as are its scores on our in-house malware protection tests, though it tanked on our antiphishing test.

Bottom Line: G Data Antivirus gets decent marks from the independent testing labs, and it includes components designed to fight ransomware and other specific malware types. However, it gets mixed scores in our hands-on tests.

Pros: Includes exploit protection, ransomware protection, behavior-based detection. Can work in conjunction with traditional antivirus. Works well with Windows Defender.

Cons: Advanced protection systems are difficult to test. Scores poorly in tests designed for traditional antivirus.

Bottom Line: Malwarebytes Premium has so many advanced protection layers that the company deems it an antivirus replacement. However, we still advise using it in conjunction with a dedicated antivirus utility.

About the Author

Neil Rubenking served as vice president and president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years when the IBM PC was brand new. He was present at the formation of the Association of Shareware Professionals, and served on its board of directors. In 1986, PC Magazine brought Neil on board to handle the torrent of Turbo Pascal tips submitted b... See Full Bio

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